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The differences between pre sales engineers and sales engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a pre sales engineer and a sales engineer. Additionally, a pre sales engineer has an average salary of $116,651, which is higher than the $93,727 average annual salary of a sales engineer.
The top three skills for a pre sales engineer include sales process, pre sales and cloud. The most important skills for a sales engineer are pre sales, customer service, and sales process.
| Pre Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $116,651 | $93,727 |
| Hourly rate | $56.08 | $45.06 |
| Growth rate | 6% | 6% |
| Number of jobs | 68,855 | 132,324 |
| Job satisfaction | 4 | 5 |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
A pre-sales engineer's role is to assist clients by offering technology recommendations and advice, aiming to secure sales and client satisfaction. Aside from selling products and services, a pre-sales engineer is also responsible for coordinating with various sales personnel, identifying the needs of clients, discussing how the equipment and devices can help attain business goals, and answering any inquiries about the subject. Furthermore, it is essential to develop positive relationships with clients, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.
A sales engineer is responsible for assisting customers with their technical equipment and advanced scientific product needs. Sales engineers must have excellent knowledge of the scientific processes and component functions of the products they're selling to deliver presentations and orient the customers. Sales engineers' duties also include troubleshooting, identifying product defects, and upgrading systems for better optimization. They are also responsible for analyzing cost estimates documents, performing adjustments as needed, process payments, arranging deliveries, and settling customers' complaints by replacing damaged items or doing refunds.
Pre sales engineers and sales engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Pre Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average salary | $116,651 | $93,727 |
| Salary range | Between $84,000 And $160,000 | Between $66,000 And $132,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | Washington, DC |
| Highest paying state | Oregon | Virginia |
| Best paying company | Apple | Meta |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Technology |
There are a few differences between a pre sales engineer and a sales engineer in terms of educational background:
| Pre Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 66% | Bachelor's Degree, 74% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Northwestern University |
Here are the differences between pre sales engineers' and sales engineers' demographics:
| Pre Sales Engineer | Sales Engineer | |
| Average age | 44 | 44 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 83.5% Female, 16.5% | Male, 90.1% Female, 9.9% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 8.4% White, 75.4% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% | Black or African American, 1.7% Unknown, 6.2% Hispanic or Latino, 8.0% Asian, 7.1% White, 76.8% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.3% |
| LGBT Percentage | 7% | 7% |